Animals
by chinesefortunecookies
Summary: Tails seems like a silly thing to bond over. Soon enough though Tigre and Kurt find out they're alike in much more different ways. NightcrawlerOC
1. Chapter 1

_"Sorry, I'm not very interested in religion,"_

_"Vhy not?"_

_"It's what drove me against my family."_

As usual, the professor was asking me to go against my instincts.

"Professor, you know I don't trust Jean's power, especially not after what happened at Liberty Island!" I tried reasoning with him, even then knowing it wasn't much use.

"I understand Tigre, but I have a feeling that this particular mutant would relate to your appearance" My hands instinctively went up to my ears, my tail swishing in confusion.

"What is he, a dog?" I asked sarcastically. The old man smiled, and I could tell he was done.

"Would it help if Storm came along?" He offered. '_Please, Tigre. I need your help_'

"Oh fine!" I gave up, exasperated. "Just stay out of my head!" I left his office to look for Jean and Storm.

I am forever in debt to Professor Xavier. My family kicked me out when my powers came out. They took one look at the ears and tail, and my mother screamed at me, calling me the devil. I was 17, and I spent years running from persecution. By the time I was 22, my powers were at its peak, and fully erratic. I had turned into a tiger in the middle of a diner; people went crazy. They had cornered me with a gun when suddenly, everything froze.

'_Hello, Christina'_ I heard a voice inside of my head. '_Don't call me that!'_ I yelled, to possibly no one. The professor approached me, Storm and Cyclops behind him. "What would you rather me call you then?" I had gotten back control over my powers, and I looked at him with human eyes. I thought back to the feline I had just taken form of, my favorite, it seemed. "Tigre… Call me Tigre."

My thoughts were interrupted by the smell of… Logan?

"Hey there fur ball, you know you didn't have to come back for me," I called, walking in the front room, watching Rogue look at Logan, and Storm walk into the room. I looked at her, and she sighed, realizing she was coming on the mission too.

"You wish, kitty cat." Logan smirked at me, when Jean walked in the room, and his eyes immediately turned to her. I rolled my eyes at their not so subtle flirting.

"You've come back just in time," Storm told him, breaking him away from his oogling. "We need a baby sitter."

"Baby sitter?" Logan asked, looking from her to me. I smirked.

"Good to see you Logan" She smiled, and we left to start the jet.

"You know Ororo, they're going to have to settle that sexual tension one day."

"Let's just pray that we're not there to witness it"

The flight to Boston was awkward, to say the least. I could tell Jean knew I was wary of her, even though I tired to hide it somewhat.

"So," I blurted, to break the silence. "Why are we trying to find the mutant who attacked the president again?"

"To find out why he did it," Storm started, descending the plane.

"And to make sure he doesn't do it again." Jean finished.

I sighed at the way the two of them worked off of each other. I guess that's what happens when you've been on a team with someone for so long.

I let my thoughts drift as I curled up on the backbench, taking a well-deserved catnap.

Jean woke me up, far too soon for my liking, asking me to go in first, as a house cat. I obliged, and soon enough, I was slinking into a church chapel in Boston. It was a very large, most likely Catholic church, my slitted eyes averted to the single candle lit. This was it, I thought, and began sniffing. I located a person soon, a mutant, and went towards the scent carefully. They must have seen me, however, for at the sound of a BAMF noise, the scent changed, to right behind me.

_Italics are in Kurt's POV_

_He was scared of what the feline would do when it saw her. Most of the time, they ran away in fear. However the tabby cat was very friendly, and after looking at him and sniffing, began to rub up and between his legs. He ever so carefully bent down to pet it. The fur felt like velvet between his three digits._

I understood what the professor meant now. From what my now colorblind eyes could see, he had purple skin and orange eyes. From his short, hesitant smile, he had all canines, and when he went to pet me, I only felt three fingers. While I made myself friendly to him, I noticed his tail, which was furless, unlike mine, but a tail nonetheless. He was kind, and timid, and very gentle. How could a man like this have tried to kill the President? I found myself disappointed when I heard that Jean and Storm were coming. I left him with a short touch to his pants leg, and ran back to the entrance, transforming back into a human when I saw the other two women approach.

_The cat had run away, as he was sure it would eventually. He savored the contact they had made. Any relationship with another living being, however small, was important and irreplaceable to him. When he turned around, to follow it's path with his eyes, he did not see it's small retreating figure, but three adult beautiful women. The woman in the middle had red hair, with her hand stretched out towards him, and he suddenly realized he no longer had control over his teleporting. A dark-skinned woman with white hair approached him slowly._

"_Please don't kill me!" He pleaded, his eyes wide with exasperation. "I didn't mean to harm anyone!"_

"_Now why would people have gotten that idea?" She asked, and a female voice behind her let out a short laugh. His eyes turned to the source, and he instantly knew that she was the cat he had just encountered. Her eyes were yellow, like his, and matched the wild set of hair on her head. Atop them was what got his attention however. Ears. Cat ears. And… a tail! It was covered in fur, but his eyes were drawn to them. Looking back to her face, he saw the fierce, but curious and caring look in her._

He was more beautiful in color. My feline eyes never a good judge, his skin was not purple, but in fact blue, and covered in strange tattoos. His eyes were also yellow, and had a frightened look in them, with well reason. I looked into them, my mind temporarily going blank. I came back to reality, and forced my vocal cords to move.

"What's your name?" I asked steadily.

"Wagner.. Kurt Wagner," He replied, our eyes still locked.


	2. Chapter 2

Storm and I were caring for Kurt, while Jean left to contact the school. He explained to us what happened, while I cleaned his wounds.

"Zere vaz zo much shooting…" He mumbled, flinching slightly as I gingerly sanitized the gunshot on his arm.

"And you don't remember anything?" Storm asked, her brow furrowing. She and I exchanged a look of questioning before he answered.

"Nein, not at all. One minute I vaz here, den…" He rolled over, facing his back to us. I glanced at Storm, to confirm that I believed him. Something in my instincts knew that he was telling the truth. Her eyes were somewhere else completely, however. I followed her gaze, to what looked like a burn mark on the back of his neck. My eyes widened, my fingers immediately finding themselves to the blister.

"What on earth happened to you?" I whispered to myself, my voice reaching him anyway. His three-digit hand lifted up, touching the injury lightly. He shivered, and crawled back into a semi fetal position, attempting to heal his scars.

I looked at the numerous tattoos on his body. My hair stood up, recognizing them as Catholic symbols. I had seen them around my house, my mother a devout Catholic herself. Images of being screamed at for who I was, crosses digging into my skin to some how 'purify' me. My mother hated who I had become; she would scream at me, throwing sharp items at me It was her who made me hateful. I hated religion, my name, even myself at times. My fists were clenched tightly before Storm put her hand on my shoulder, indicating that it was time to go.

The ride back to the school was tense. Jean found herself very frustrated; nobody was picking up the phone. She had called the school 4 times, Scott 7. I could not blame her, since Scott always picked up the phone for her. But I was increasingly wary of how her aggravation might affect her powers, and in turn us. Storm also looked worried, which was more disturbing; due to her usually calm nature.

"Iz zometing wrong?" Kurt asked, jumping me out of my daze. My ears instantly perked up, my tail swishing in adrenaline. I turned my head to facing him, sighing.

"Yeah, pretty much," I replied, giving a sad smile in his direction. "It seems like we can not reach the school." His facial features twitch at the word 'school' and I instantly knew what he was thinking. He was afraid people would stare at him, just like I did when I first came to Xaviers. "They won't care, you know." He perked up, his golden eyes wide. "About how you look. Actually, they'll probably think it's kickass. Everyone's different there, and we embrace those differences, not judge them." I smiled at him reassuringly.

"And are you.. a teacher hat thiz school?" He asked.

"Yup!" I confirmed. "Me, Storm and Jean. I teach Biology and arts classes."

"And the professor, is he…?" He trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"Professor X? He's the kindest man I've ever met. Everyone has nothing but respect for him." He let out a breath, while I heard Storm come back with some good news.

"We finally reached someone," She started, and my ears lifted in hope. "Logan called. Him, Rogue, Bobby and John are in Boston with Bobby's parents. We're going there now."

"Why are they in Boston?" I asked, afraid of the answer. Storm only looked at me, no doubt mulling over the same question herself. Kurt decided now to but in.

"Did I ever tell you I vaz in ze zircus?" He asked, grinning a canine smile at the two of us.

"No way! For real?" I asked, motioning to Storm to sit on the bench next to me across from Kurt.

"Yez, I vaz known az ze Incredible Nightcrawler!" The pride in his eyes as he said this was incredible. Storm looked at me, and I could see a smile tugging at her lips.

"Well what did you do?" Storm asked lightly, yet encouragingly.

"I vaz an acrobat!" He declared, his hand proudly on his chest. "I could do many, many tricks!"

"What are you waiting for then? Show us one!" I demanded, my tail flicking in excitement. All of the sudden, he was on the other end of the plane, hanging from a rafter on his toes. He then proceeded to climb the ceiling, jumping from place to place, revealing he could attach to walls. For his 'final act,' he teleported in front of Storm and I, hanging from his tail. We looked at each other, and we both stood up and clapped.

"That was amazing!" Storm congratulated, before returning to the front of the plane to help a troubled Jean.

"I would have loved to see that in a real circus!" I exclaimed, still laughing from his antics.

"Thank you," He said, before becoming more serious and sitting down. I followed suit. "You know, outzide of ze zircus, people vere scared of me." I nodded, understanding fully.

"That must have been frustrating." I said sympathetically. He shook his head to my surprise.

"I vaz never angry vith zem," He clarified. "I pitied zem."

This I did not understand. "Why?"

"Because most people vill never zee past zer own two eyes"

It was then that I realized that Kurt Wagner had much more to him than his odd appearance. We sat there for a while, just looking at each other. How could someone so religious be so understanding? He was so at peace, like he knew why he was on the earth. He had purpose. And I envied him so much for it

**a/n: Sorry this is late. I feel like I should tell you right now that my updates are scarce. It's Easter (yay!) so I finally could have caffeine, since that is what I gave up for Lent. That's pretty much why this is finally being uploaded! Thank you for reading, have a wonderful day **


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